Fast Friends
by nature-lover2003
Summary: For a long time people have asked this one question: Do Kinecelerans and Citrakayah get along, or do they hate each other? The answer may not be as simple as you think and only the respective races can answer that question. (Rated for themes of racism, segregation, and bullying. Don't read if these are sensitive topics.)
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N: For those of you who don't know, Kinecelerans are XLR8's species and Citrakayah are Fasttrack's species. I'm sure there are some of you who knew this already, it's just for the people who don't know or simply forgot.**

**I just want to clarify something: this is not a story on which species is better, even though I'm already sure which one you guys would choose if that's what I did. Also, I don't care if you hate him or not, but I really like Fasttrack, I don't consider him to be boring or a nuisance like I'm sure most of you view him. I still like XLR8 more than him, but I still think that he deserves a little more love or less hate at the very least. Hating a character just because they're similar to another just isn't right.)**

V-V-V~0-o-0~V-V-V

"Come on, we're going to be late!" a Kineceleran teenage girl called out to her family.

"Relax honey, they're not planning to eat for another hour," her mother calmly assured her as she put on a silver-chain necklace. She admired how it looked with the dress she wore in a mirror.

Her father came out of the bathroom, tightening his tie, "Your Mom's right, sweetie, we might be Kinecelerans, but there's no reason to be in such a rush."

"'No reason to be in such a rush?' Are you even a Kineceleran?!" her younger brother jeered as he came running down the stairs of their home.

"You watch your tone, mister," their father warned. He snorted and was about to go back upstairs, but he grabbed his arm before he could move a foot, "Your old man still has a lot in him."

His sister grabbed his wrist and yanked him away from their father. "You better not start acting a brat while we're there, runt!" she threatened through gritted teeth, her fist clenched.

He nodded vigorously and sped up the stairs of their two-story apartment. He came back down seconds later wearing an Iron Maiden shirt and tattered jeans.

"Did you brush your teeth?" their mother asked, her tone sounding very expected yet slightly playful.

He groaned and went back upstairs, coming back down just a couple of seconds later. Water spots were lightly splattered all over his shirt.

"Are we ready to go?" their father asked.

"Yes, I believe so, PTR," his wife replied.

He smiled at his beautiful spouse, "Good to know, LN-R."

"Let's go then!" their daughter shouted, her hand on the doorknob.

Her brother stood near her, "And stop being so cheesy!"

They went up to their children and they both smiled down at their cocky son. "In time you won't think of it as 'cheesy' at all," she told him.

"She's right, RY-N," he winked at him.

His facial expression was one of shock and fluster. He quickly turned back to his sister, "Come on, NTL-E, let's open the door and leave!"

She shrugged, "Okay," and opened the door.

Once out of their home, they ran through the community in Undertown they lived in. Running past groups of children, who ran as fast as they did as they played games in the streets. Most of the children they passed were Kinecelerans like them, but some were Citrakayah, a species that had enhanced speed just as them, but they were slightly slower yet physically stronger than them.

The community they lived in was known locally as Hermelocity. Although it was populated by various species, the majority were Kinecelerans and Citrakayah.

For a long time, many believed the two species were at odds with one another, this was true in some cases, but not always. In truth, they actually get along quite well, although there is still occasional discrimination on both sides, many have been able to look past their differences. At one point in history there were wars between them, the outcome has been lost to time, all that could be said was that there was a drastic reduction in numbers on both sides.

It didn't take them long to reach their final destination. It was a two-story apartment similar to the one they lived in, though the complex where it was at was slightly older than the one they lived at.

NTL-E knocked on the door of the flat they stopped in front of. A young male Citrakayah in his mid-to-late teenage years answered it. He was slightly muscled yet slim and the dark fur around his forearms was longer than most of his race, it dangled down to his wrists like tassels. He wore a creamy malachite oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows over a plain white t-shirt.

He at first looked at them in confusion, then smiled when he saw a familiar face. NTL-E threw her arms around him and squealed lightly, "Dusty! It's been so long!"

He returned the embrace, "It sure has, it sure has." She kissed his cheek and he tittered.

They broke apart and she gave a light giggle to her family before turning back to him, "You remember my parents and brother, right?"

"Yup," he waved to them, "nice to see you guys again." He then apologized to her, "Sorry I haven't been calling, my sister's babysitter got sick so I've been looking after her."

"I get it, it's no big deal," she reassured.

"Yeah, that 'why hasn't he called me?' incident last week was totally not a melt down," RY-N muttered sarcastically to himself.

He moved aside and beckoned them to enter, "Please, come in."

Just as they did, a Citrakayah woman walked into the room holding a baby and adjusting her sweater. The fur on the back of her head was long enough to be pulled back into a loose braid, the tips of the "fins" around her eyes were long enough to frame her face, and she had the same dangling fur as he did. The sweater she wore was pink with gold buttons.

She noticed them as they walked in, "Oh! Hello, NTL-E and this must be your family?"

Her mother nodded, "I'm LN-R and this is my husband PTR and our son RY-N."

"I'm Pearl, Dusty's mother." She came up to her son and asked, "Can you put Mazey down for a nap?"

"Sure," he replied. He took his baby sister from his mother and rushed upstairs.

She shook hands with them and laughed in a similar way to her son, "Sorry about that, I've been busy with cleaning the place and taking care of my daughter. I haven't gotten started on much of the food. My husband should be back here soon, so just make yourselves comfortable."

"Do you need help with the cooking?" LN-R asked.

"If you would like to help, you can," she nodded.

They went into the kitchen and Pearl melted a stick of butter in a pan. Once it was melted she added a spoonful of bouillon paste and a sprinkle of paprika into the hot liquid.

"Can you chop up those vegetables for me?" she asked.

"Yes, I can," she replied and got to work with that.

Meanwhile, PTR and RY-N were watching TV in the living room. Dusty came back downstairs and was talking with NTL-E. A few minutes into watching a wrestling match between a Tetramand and a Loboan, RY-N got up to go get a drink of water.

Pearl noticed him as he walked into the kitchen and smiled, "RY-N, how old are you?"

"Ten," he replied, getting water from the refrigerator.

"You're the same age as my middle child, Smokey," she told him.

"I thought it was a little quiet around here. Where is Smokey anyway?" NTL-E asked.

"He left with his father to get stuff at the market," she responded. She looked at the clock on the stove, "They should be-" there was a knock at the door, "back any second now."

"I'll get it," Dusty went over to the door and answered it.

A Citrakayah man and child walked inside carrying large paper bags full of various items. The man was well into the six-foot range and, unlike his wife and eldest son, his fur looked much shorter and perhaps coarse. His feline features were also more pronounced than theirs. The child was around RY-N's height and his fur was short like his father's, but it didn't appear to be coarse, it looked much closer to his brother's fur if anything. His feline features were also more pronounced like his father's, but his were much softer like his mother's. He also had the same dangling fur his mother and brother had.

"Mom, we're home!" their youngest son shouted as he and his father placed the bags on the table.

"I think she knows, son," his father told him.

His expression went bitter when he saw NTL-E's family. He then rushed upstairs without saying a word to anybody.

"What's his problem?" RY-N asked.

"He tried to become friends with some Kinecelerans at his school, but they beat him up and laughed at him instead. He thinks that all Kinecelerans are jerks and, as far as I know, NTL-E is the only one he trusts," Dusty explained, while helping his father put some of the items away.

"That's not a good way to view others," PTR pointed out. "Do any of his teachers know?"

His father shook his head, "Most of his teachers are Kinecelerans and he's afraid to ask."

Wanting to change the subject, he decided to introduce himself and his family, "I'm PTR by the way, NTL-E's father. This is my son RY-N and that's my wife LN-R."

They shook hands and he also introduced himself, "I'm Ash and of course you already know my wife and kids."

'Ash, Pearl, Dusty, Smokey, Mazey? Are they just named after random stuff?' RY-N thought sarcastically.

After all the items were put away, RY-N, PTR, and Ash all sat on the couch to watch the next wrestling match between an Appoplexian and a Pyronite. Dusty and NTL-E returned to their conversation, while LN-R and Pearl talked and cooked in the kitchen.

Just as the match was getting heated, RY-N heard rock music faintly playing from upstairs. He turned his head to look at the stairs and saw picture frames shaking due to the vibrations caused by the music.

His father noticed this, "Son, what are you doing?"

"He's playing music or something," he responded.

"He does that a lot," Ash mentioned. "If it's too loud you can go upstairs and tell him to turn it down."

He sped from the couch and up the stairs to do just that. It wasn't difficult to determine which room was Smokey's once he got up there. The door of his bedroom was covered with stickers from rock bands, some from Earth, others not. This was a little creepy to him because his bedroom door was identical.

He vehemently knocked on the door and impatiently waited. The music stopped, but the door didn't open and his patience was wearing thin. He was about to knock again when the door opened.

"What do you want?" Smokey asked bitterly.

"Can turn down your music?" he requested, trying to be polite.

He didn't buy it and saw right through his weak attempt. It was something he'd seen many times before, but wasn't going to let him know this.

He mimicked his demeanor when he replied, "Yeah, I will, no problem. If that's all you need..." he closed his door.

'Jeez, what a grouch,' he thought as he went back downstairs.

The song "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day could be faintly heard even downstairs. Though it was just barely noticeable due to it being a much softer song tune than the other one he played earlier.

In his room, he sat on his bed with his legs crossed and his head down. He was sobbing and his tears dripped down from his eyes and soaked into the sheets.

"This is going to be the worst time of my life," he uttered, his sobbing interfering with his voice as he said it.

V-V-V~0-O-0~V-V-V

**(A/N: Sorry if this is a little short, but I've got a lot of stuff coming up pretty soon. This is the shortest chapter I've written in a long time, but like I said I'm going to be super busy. I'm not kidding, things are going to be a bit slow in March because I have so many tests coming up and I have to prepare for them.**

**In case you guys are wondering, RY-N is pronounced the same way as "Ryan", "NTL-E" is pronounced the same way as "Natalie", LN-R is pronounced the same way as "Eleanor", and PTR is pronounced the same way as "Peter". There is a reason for the names of the boys family, it won't be explained until later though.**

**I hope you guys like this and please let me know what you think. Please nothing negative, I already have a lot on my mind.)**


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N: Now, I understand that a lot of people don't really find this to be very interesting and I respect that. But for the very select few of you who do like this (which is probably nobody, but I'm not giving up), I'll continue with this for you. I know I haven't said this in a long time but, I'm not the one who decides if this is a success or failure, it's you, the readers, that decide everything.**

**Warning: themes mentioned in the summary will begin in this chapter. Not overly graphic or anything like that, but it could be a possible trigger to some people.)**

**0**~**0**~**0**-V-**0**~**0**~**0**

Pearl stirred the contents of a pot on the stove that was filled with freshly made soup. She saw that it was boiling and turned the heat down to low.

"Dinner will be ready in five minutes!" she announced.

"Okay, Mom!" Dusty shouted back, before returning to his conversation with NTL-E. "So, wait, you actually went up to Bellwood and you were up there for a few hours and no one called the cops or called you out because you're not a human?" his voice was full of laughter and disbelief.

"I'm not kidding," she claimed, laughing, "I was just skating around town and no one seemed to care."

"Ash, can you get Mazey and tell Smokey that dinner's ready?" Pearl asked her husband.

"Yeah, I will, honey," he responded.

He stood up from the couch and sped upstairs to get their children. He went to his infant daughter's room first and found her wide awake in her crib.

He picked her up and crooned with a loving smile, "Oh, hi, sweetie, Daddy's here." She cooed and gave a small grin of her own.

He left his daughter's room and went down the short hallway to his youngest son's room. He could faintly hear music playing, but couldn't make out the lyrics.

He knocked on the door and called out to him, "Son?"

The music stopped and his son opened his bedroom door, "Yeah, Dad?"

"Dinner's ready," he told him.

"I'm not hungry," he uttered, his tone was tart and almost scathing yet there were noticeable hints of fear and anxiety.

"Son," he sighed, "I know you don't trust them, but give them a chance. If not for you, then do it for your brother. Okay?"

"Okay," he complied in a quiet voice with a sigh.

He came out of his room and closed the door behind him. Then, he and his father went downstairs to join up with everyone else for dinner.

Now that everyone was downstairs together, they could get their food and eat. Which was what they did and both families sat at the table together.

The meal was quiet for the most part with the occasional "Is your homework done?" or "What's the plan for tomorrow?". It was only really broken when LN-R decided it was time to break the awkwardness.

"How old is your daughter?" she asked.

"Six and a half months," Pearl answered. She was feeding Mazey an orange colored baby food, which she happily lapped up.

"What do you usually feed her?" she asked again.

"Her favorite is a blend of peaches and amber ogia," she replied.

"What school do you go to, RY-N?" Ash asked.

"Hermelocity Elementary," he answered, chewing on a piece of meat.

"Smokey goes to the same school," he mentioned.

"I see him out on the playground all the time," Smokey commented.

"That's funny, I've never seen you out there," he remarked.

"I usually stay by the swings," he blurted.

"If you see him out there all the time, why don't you ever try talking to him?" his father asked.

"I'm not talking to anyone who's friends with SK8-R," he gritted his teeth. He dropped his spoon into his bowl, causing some of the food to spatter onto the table, and crossed his arms.

"Son," his father shot warningly, though he appeared to be more disappointed than upset if anything.

"I hate that jerk, he beats me up in the bathroom for no reason!" he exclaimed angrily.

Finally, RY-N snapped and slammed his fists onto the table, "Don't you dare lie about by best friend!"

"Some friend," he scoffed. "I don't need this!" he sped off, spilling his food in the process.

"And you think I'm a brat?" he retorted to his sister, who glared at him in response.

Dusty groaned and leaned his head back, he placed a hand over his face that covered one eye and partially covered the other, "I should have known this would happen."

NTL-E placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Don't beat yourself up, you didn't know this would happen."

"But I did," he admitted, "he begged me not to invite your family over and I did anyway. I'm the worst older brother ever."

The mess Smokey made was cleaned up and the rest of dinner was completely silent. Dusty went upstairs afterwards to try to talk to his brother, but he was in no mood to talk to him. Their parents had gone upstairs to check on him numerous times, but he pushed them away too.

An hour after dinner, LN-R and PTR had decided that it was time to head home since there was school the next day. RY-N was more than happy to get going, but NTL-E wasn't ready to leave yet. There was something she wanted to do before they left.

She went upstairs and knocked on Smokey's door. At first, all she got was a loud 'thump!', most likely from a shoe or similar object being thrown at the door.

She tried again and got a rough, "Go away!"

She knocked a third time, "Smokey, it's just me, NTL-E."

Finally, he opened the door, "What? Are you mad at me like everyone else?"

"No, I came to say sorry," she told him.

"For what?" he asked. "I'm the one who made a scene in the first place."

"I'm the one who wanted to bring my family over tonight, your parents agreed, but I should have checked to see if everyone was on board. And for that I'm very sorry," she apologized.

He didn't have anything to say in response to this and, truthfully, it only made him feel ashamed of himself. He trusted NTL-E, the only Kineceleran he does trust, he should learn to trust her family too, but he doubted that would happen anytime soon, if it would ever happen at all. Especially considering who her brother was friends with.

"NTL-E, c'mon! Let's go home already!" RY-N shouted from downstairs.

She gave him a hug, which he weakly returned, then separated from him, "Bye, I'll see you later."

He watched her leave and stood there long afterwards. He stood there staring into space with sad eyes, his face was blank otherwise. He eventually retreated back into his room and closed the door.

* * *

The next morning, RY-N was getting ready for school, he was already dressed in an Ozzy shirt and khaki shorts. At that moment, he was polishing his helmet to keep it shiny and clean.

Kinecelerans need to polish their helmets and claws not just to keep them clean, but to keep them from rotting. Rotting usually happens in the claws first, fortunately for him he didn't have claws so he didn't have to worry about them. His father didn't have claws either, but his mother and sister did.

To him, it seemed only fitting that the two girls of the house did have them since most girls tend to take a long time getting ready anyway. At least that was from personal experience and from what his friends tell him.

After he was done in the bathroom, he went downstairs for breakfast. He grabbed a box of cereal and a carton of blue milk from the refrigerator.

When he was about halfway through his breakfast, his head was suddenly forced into his bowl. His food spilled all over the table and floor. After just a few more seconds, he was lifted out of the bowl. He looked up and saw that the assailant was none other than his own sister!

"NTL-E! What gives?!" he shouted, breathing heavily and spewing milk and cereal out of his mouth and nose.

"You embarrassed everyone last night!" she yelled.

"Me?! He started it!" he argued.

"I don't care, runt. You're going to apologize to him today or else!" she threatened.

He gagged, "Ugh! I'd rather lick the bathroom floor!"

She grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl on the table and started slicing at it at speeds that were hard for even him to see. In seconds, it was a paste that closely resembled baby food.

He got the message and fearfully shrieked, "Okay! Okay! I'll apologize!"

She left with a huff and went upstairs. He cleaned up the mess that was made and went upstairs himself. He brushed his teeth and grabbed his backpack from his bedroom.

He checked his bag to make sure he had everything. Once he made sure nothing was missing, he slung it over his shoulder and left for school.

His school was only a few blocks away from his apartment complex and getting there only took a second. Classes weren't for another few minutes, so he decided to look around for his friends. He found them pretty quickly and went over to them as soon he spotted them.

"SK8-R, ZK! How have you guys been?" he asked.

SK8-R and ZK were Kinecelerans just like him, the three of them had known each other since pre-school. They all just happened to live in the same complex as well.

ZK, or ZKR-E, was shorter than RY-N and did not have a helmet nor claws. He often wore a black bandana with red and white skulls to cover his head. His tail was short and a solid blue, unlike his two friends.

SK8-R was taller than both of his friends and was older too - he was eleven, they were ten. He had a helmet and claws too, the only one of the trio to have them. His tail was long and striped from the base to the tip, RY-N had only four stripes on his.

"I've been good," ZK replied.

"What about you? What have you been up to?" SK8-R asked.

"We went to my sister's boyfriend's house last night and it was just a disaster," he grumbled.

"Why? What happened?" he asked again.

"Apparently, his brother hates Kinecelerans and even lied about you beating him up in the bathrooms!" he explained.

He scoffed and laughed, "Seriously? Who would ever believe that?"

"I know, right? Hating an entire race because of one person is one thing, but blaming someone's best friend is another," he scoffed.

"I wonder if he got grounded," ZK commented.

"Maybe," he shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised, his Dad is a big dude. It got crazy last night and my sister is making me apologize for something he started."

"Seriously?" SK8-R asked in disbelief. "Why do you have to apologize? If anything you should be the one who gets an apology from him."

He shrugged, "I don't know. I just know that my sister is going to ground me to pulp if I don't."

The bell for classes rang throughout the whole school. It was time to go to class and listen to teachers all day. A very boring day for some, an interesting one for others.

"Well, time to go. I'll see you guys later," RY-N sped off to his classroom.

"I heard it's supposed to be a busy day in my class," ZK groaned before he took off.

That left SK8-R, he didn't go to his class right away, instead he was thinking about... vengeance. 'I'm going to tear that runt to shreds!'

* * *

An hour after classes started, in one classroom was a class of twenty-five students finishing up a writing assignment. The students were primarily Kineceleran, though there were several Citrakayah and a lone Aerophibian.

Among these students was Smokey, who was putting the final touches on his assignment. Once he was done, he got up from his desk and went over to his teacher, who was sitting at her desk.

"Can I go to the bathroom real quick?" he asked.

She nodded, "Sure, go right ahead."

He left the classroom and sped to the closest bathroom. He did his business and washed his hands once he was done.

"Hey," a voice spoke, a very familiar voice, one that he both hated and feared. He turned his head and saw SK8-R leaning up against the wall.

He shook the water off his hands and asked bitterly, "What do you want SK8-R?"

He shrugged, "I just wanted to have a little chat with you."

"Yeah, where have I heard that before?" he spat harshly.

"Don't have to be rude, I just wanted to talk to you about a rumor that's been going around," he told him a feign friendly voice, while smirking and cracking his knuckles.

He gulped nervously, "Oh, yeah? And what would that be?"

"Oh, you already know," he replied ominously.

He tries to make a run for it, but he blocks the door, the only way out. He takes small, nervous steps back like a cowardly little mouse. If he was the mouse, then SK8-R was the lion.

He grabs a hold of his arm and begins to spin him around at extreme speeds. The grip on his arm was so strong that he could feel his sharp claws sink into his skin.

When it was over, he was thrown roughly against the wall, causing him to grunt in pain. His world was spinning and it was blurry, but he could make out a clawed fist raised high before it came down.

By the time he finally made it back to class, his teacher had started on a new lesson. He walked in with his head hung and silently sat down at his desk.

He looked over at his classmate next to him, Jet, the Aerophibian. Jet had recently joined their class upon his family migrating to Earth from their home planet. He was also one of the very few he could consider a friend. He had a sinking feeling that he would definitely be in need of one later.

"Jet," he whispered, so that their teacher wouldn't hear him.

"Yeah?" he questioned, not taking his eyes off of the new lesson.

"Can you sit with me at lunch today?" he asked, hopeful and fearful.

**0**~**0**~**0**-V-**0**~**0**~**0**

**(A/N: So? What do you think? Do you think I did a decent job with this chapter?**

**Just so you guys know: SK8-R is pronounced "Skater" and ZKR-E is pronounced "Zachary." They will be brought up a lot in future chapters.**

**The next chapter of "Interstellar Roots" is about halfway done, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to update it. I'm also working on the next chapter of "Against All Odds", which I updated a few days ago, again I'm not sure when it'll be done. I'll also be getting started on the next chapter of "No More Chains" very soon, but it'll be a little while.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**(A/N: I'm not really sure how this makes me sound, but I get the feeling that I'm probably the only one who likes this story. I know it's not true and people do like this just as much as I do, it's a feeling that I get sometimes.**

**I know that just because a story doesn't get a lot of views, favorites, followers, or reviews doesn't mean it's not good. And it is. This story is good and it's going to be around for a long time.)**

**V***~***V***~***V**-o-x-o-**V***~***V***~***V**

Lunchtime came by relatively quickly for the students, perhaps it had something to do with it being a Monday. They all ran out of their classrooms to be first in line to get food.

RY-N searched around for Smokey to apologize like he 'promised' his sister, but couldn't find him. Instead, he went searching for his two best friends, ZK and SK8-R. He found ZK right away, he was standing next to a table where some of his classmates sat and ate their lunch.

"Hey, man," he smiled when he came to a stop right next to him.

"Hey, how's today been so far?" he asked.

"Boring, same as always," he shrugged. "You?"

"We had a test today and we have to write two paragraphs by Wednesday," he replied with a groan.

"Oh, yeah, my class did something like that a week ago," he told him, nodding his head slightly.

"So, did you apologize to that Citrakayah yet?" he asked.

He grumbled, "No. I tried looking for him, but I can't find him anywhere."

"Well, did he say anything last night about where he might be?" he asked.

"I think he said that he likes to be by the swings," he answered.

"I think SK8-R said that he would be down by the field," he told him.

"Why?" he asked.

He shrugged, "I don't know. So, do you want to go get lunch or do you want to go find him?"

He thought about it for a second, "Let's go find SK8-R, then we'll look for Smokey and get this apology thing over with."

They took off in the direction of the field, which was right next to the playground. The field itself was quite large, it was roughly the size of a soccer field with a track field that wraps around it.

On the track were four Kinecelerans, one of which was their friend. SK8-R saw them and he went off track and stopped right in front of them, the other three followed him.

"What's the big deal, SK8?" one of them asked.

"I saw my friends," he replied, then turned to them. "What's up guys?"

"We thought we'd find you and get this apology over with," he told him.

His expression went bitter, "You're seriously going to apologize to that Smokey kid? You should be the one that gets one."

"Smokey?" another asked. "I know that guy. We have the same class."

"Really? What's he usually like?" RY-N asked.

"He's usually pretty quiet, the kind of guy that gets all of his work done in class," he said. "Doesn't have too many friends either. The only person he really talks to is the teacher and our new classmate Jet."

"Well, we better get going," the last one said. "See ya later, SK8-R." All three took off and went back to the track.

"Alright, let's hurry up and find him," RY-N stated.

A loud growl coming from ZK's stomach changed that plan. "Sorry, I'm hungry."

He sighed, "Fine, we'll get lunch, then we'll look for him."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" ZK took off without them.

They were just about to follow him when RY-N saw something on SK8-R's forearm. It caught his attention because Kinecelerans heal very quickly and there are only a handful of species in the entire universe that can harm them.

"What's with that scratch on your arm?" he asked.

He looked at it, "Huh, I'm not sure. Come on. ZK's probably waiting for us."

Both went to the cafeteria and got their food. When they walked into the lunch area they saw their friend holding a food tray, waiting for them.

"What took so long?" he asked as they looked for a table to sit at.

"RY-N asked about a scratch on my arm," SK8-R answered, holding out his arm.

He took a look at it, "Ouch. Want my Dad to look at it? He is a doctor."

"Nah, I'm good," he waved him off.

They looked around for a table to sit at, but there was only one space left for them. They went over to that table and saw that it was right next to where the person RY-N had been looking for was sitting at.

"Hey, that's the guy I've been looking for," he pointed out.

He tapped him on the shoulder, he flinched and whipped his head around. He sighed in relief when he saw that it was just RY-N, but when his eyes landed on SK8-R, he thought he was going to have a heart attack.

"What do you want?" he asked, he tried to sound calm, but the shakiness in his voice was clear.

SK8-R narrowed his white eyes at him, but then noticed the Aerophibian sitting next to him. Given what he did to him earlier, he had a feeling that this was his way of taking an extra precaution.

'Pathetic,' he mentally scoffed.

"I just wanted to say sorry for losing my temper last night," he told him.

He nodded, "Alright, I'm sorry, too. Sorry I made you upset."

He gave him a small smile and waved it off, "It's cool. Is your brother making you apologize too?"

He didn't smile back, but he did nod, "Yeah, he got more than a little angry with me. My Mom is putting me in charge of changing my sister's diaper for the next month. Wait, is NTL-E making you apologize?"

"Yeah, if I don't she'll turn me into mush," he chuckled.

He cracked a small smile of his own, "Sounds like her. You should see how she gets with my brother. I think he went blind in one eye because she punched him too hard."

He nodded, "Yup, that's definitely my sister."

"You guys wanna sit down?" Jet offered.

Before he or ZK could say anything, SK8-R answered, "No, we're fine." Much to the confusion of his friends.

They sat down at the table behind them and ate their food. Smokey glared at SK8-R's back and turned around with a sad face. Jet saw this and put a hand on his shoulder, turning his head back to look at them before looking back at his classmate.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," he responded quietly. "I guess I kinda hoped that I could possibly get over my hatred for them and maybe let my guard down for a second." He looked over at them and narrowed his eyes, "I guess not."

RY-N and ZK couldn't understand why their friend would be so quick to decline something before they could all come to some kind of agreement. Also, it almost looked like he was quick to get away from Smokey.

"What's your problem, man?" ZK asked SK8-R.

"Yeah, he was being cool and he apologized too," RY-N pointed out, bewildered.

"I'm not falling for it," he scoffed then continued pointedly, "he's a jerk to you, he lied about me. He's just acting to make us think he's a nice guy. In reality, he's probably worse than the Vreedles."

To say they were surprised to hear a statement like that from their friend is an understatement. SK8-R was usually very friendly with everyone, Kineceleran or not, but he was obviously hostile towards him, which was very uncharacteristic.

Although, this sudden change in character could be caused by a number of things. It could even have something to do with the allegations made against him. If they were even simply allegations at all.

For some reason, ZK felt the need to glance at the scratch on SK8-R's arm again and something just didn't sit right with him. His father wasn't just any other doctor, he was a trained pathologist and he taught him how to distinguish certain injuries.

According to him, accidental injuries will appear on the skin in a random pattern, but defensive and offensive injuries will appear in a uniform pattern. The scratch on his arm was too straight and too deep to be caused by simply brushing up against a door frame.

Then again, what does he know? He's only ten! He doesn't know anything about medicine or diseases or injuries. For all he knew, he could have scratched himself because he felt an itch on his arm.

Still, it looked really strange to him and the fact that Kinecelerans rarely receive serious injuries from anyone or anything is really suspicious. Especially considering that they generally begin to rapidly heal themselves just milliseconds after receiving an injury.

Then, he remembered something, he remembered his father mentioning something about the arm and leg blades of a Citrakayah. The blades of a Citrakayah are powerful enough to cut into solid concrete. Does the idea that the injury could have been caused by a Citrakayah hold water? No, not enough proof. Could it have been? Absolutely.

They finished their food and SK8-R said that he was going to go back to the field. ZK told RY-N that he was going up to the front office to see if he could make a quick phone call. That left RY-N without anyone to talk to for the remaining duration of their lunch break.

He looked up at a clock attached to the wall near the table he sat at. There was only about five minutes left before classes would restart. With nothing to lose, he decided to go to the playground for the remainder of the break.

He looked around for something to do for these remaining few minutes, but nothing seemed interesting. Things always seem to be a bit more interesting when his friends were around.

Then, he spotted someone familiar by the swings. It was Smokey and he looked sad or distraught. He was sitting on a swing and was moving back and forth slowly, much slower than the normal speed for a Kineceleran or a Citrakayah. He was alone, his Aerophibian friend was nowhere in sight.

They may not be friends or on the best of turns, but he still wondered why he looked so upset. He went over to the swings to see what was wrong with him.

He sat down in the swing next to him and asked, "Hey, Smokey, what's wrong?"

He turned his head away from him, "Nothing." His voice was low and flat and almost scathing, but the sadness in his voice could clearly be heard.

He rolled his eyes, 'Oh, man! Not this again.'

As if he knew what he was thinking, he blurted out, "I'm not mad at you. I'm more or less mad at myself."

"Why?" he asked, confused and curious.

He looked at the ground and closed his eyes and sighed, "I- I'm not sure. I guess I just want friends."

"Friends? What about the Aerophibian?" he questioned.

It took a moment, but he finally responded, "I guess I could call Jet my friend, we haven't known each other for very long, but he's the only one I talk to and I just feel like he understands me."

He wasn't exactly sure what to make of this. It almost sounded like he was confessing something to him, it made him feel like a police officer.

When they met the night before, he got the impression that he was the type that hated all Kinecelerans, period. Now, after hearing this, his impression of him was solemn to say the least. Comparing the two, he wasn't sure how to think of him.

He continued, "Jet and I couldn't be more different, but I still feel like we have this connection. It's something that I can't really explain because it's something that I only feel with the ones closest to me."

Before he could say anything, flashes suddenly encircled around Smokey and threw him to the ground. He got up from the swing and was about to help him up then SK8-R came over and put his arm around him.

"Hey, RY, what are you doing around here?" he asked casually.

"I was just talking to him to pass the time," he replied quickly.

They began to stroll away along with SK8-R's friends as he scoffed and laughed, "Who would want to hang out with that loser?"

They left the area and left him on the ground alone. He sat there with his head hung and his eyes glued to the ground, close to tears.

Jet soared over to him and helped him stand as he asked, "What happened to you?"

"Nothing. Just the usual," he answered quietly.

He looked in the direction where they headed and narrowed his eyes. His eyes glowed vividly, indicating that he was about to fire his neuroshock blasts at them.

Smokey saw this and covered his eyes, "No, don't! Shooting at them won't solve a thing!"

He sighed, "Fine." The bell rang, echoing throughout the whole school. "Let's go to class."

* * *

Meanwhile in the front office, ZK was on the phone with his father, telling him about his suspicions. As much as he hated talking about one of his closest friends behind their back, he just couldn't get his suspicions out of his head.

"Dad, all I'm saying is that it's just a little weird," he told him.

"_I get that, son, I understand why you're suspicious_," he replied.

"You're the one who told me that our species doesn't get hurt very easily," he pointed out, "and he had a deep scratch on his arm."

"_A deep scratch? On a young Kineceleran?_" he questioned, now understanding why his son was so suspicious. "_Okay, I'll look into it._" And with that he hung up.

The bell rang, he put the phone down and thanked the secretary, "Thanks." He left and went straight to class.

**V***~***V***~***V**-o-x-o-**V***~***V***~***V**

**(A/N: Sorry if it's a little too short, I really did my best. I know it probably doesn't seem like it, but I did actually try really hard and I did give it my best.**

**I recently published a new story called "Unknown Life", it has to do with a couple of villains linked to one person. That's I'm gonna say here, if you want to know more about it you'll have to read it. It's not much now, but it will shortly.**

**Before I forget, I'd like to thank Snowflake Canary for reviewing my stories. Thank you so very much!)**


	4. Chapter 4

**(A/N: Warning: racial prejudices that will start very early on that could continue at some other points and they will continue a lot in future chapters. If you're sensitive, please read at your own risk. I cannot sugarcoat this enough.**

**I do hope you guys enjoy this chapter nonetheless. Just, read delicately if you're really sensitive. That's all I have to say.)**

V-Y-V-Y-V

The day always seems to go by a lot faster after lunch. At least, that's RY-N's opinion.

The final bell rang and he rushed out to the front of the school to wait for his sister. They went home together since they got out of school about the same time.

While waiting, he noticed Smokey's brother Dusty going up to his younger brother, who was with his Aerophibian classmate. He noticed that he was holding their little sister and figured that was the reason why his sister wasn't yet there.

"Hey, RY," he heard a familiar voice speak.

He looked and saw SK8-R. He grinned, "Hey, what's up?"

He shrugged, "Nothing. I'm about to head down to the track, wanna come?"

He shook his head, "Nah, I'm waiting for NTL-E to show up."

As if on cue, he heard his sister calling out to him, "RY-N? RY-N? I'm here."

"Speak of the devil," he uttered and waved to her, "Over here, NTL-E."

She spotted her brother and went over to them, "Did you apologize?"

He rolled his eyes, "Yes, I apologized."

"Great," she smiled softly. "Sorry I'm late, I had to talk to my pre-calculus teacher."

"That sounds like a hard class," he commented.

She laughed softly, "It is." She then noticed SK8-R standing next to him, "Hey, SK8."

He swallowed nervously and smiled, "Hi, uh, NTL-E."

It was no secret that the reason he was behaving this way was because his crush on her. She was aware of it, as were RY-N and ZK, but figured he would get over it as he gets older and matures. Besides, she's already in a relationship with a really great guy.

"We better get going," she told her brother.

"Okay," he replied. "See you tomorrow, SK8-R."

He was in a daydream-like state and snapped out of it when his friend talked to him, "Wha- oh, yeah, see you later." He took off in a hurry.

They were about to leave when a voice called out to them, "NTL-E!" It was Dusty.

He came up to them with Smokey, who was now holding their infant sister Mazey. She squirmed in his furry, toothpick arms as she constantly tried to hunch over.

"I looked around for you earlier," she told him.

"I had to leave early because Mazey's babysitter suddenly got sick again," he explained.

RY-N chuckled when he saw Smokey clenching his sister closer to him because she almost slipped out of his hands, "Looks like she's already ready to start running."

He grinned, "Yeah, she doesn't like to stay in place. She's very active."

"Did your friend go home?" he asked. "I saw him with you earlier."

He nodded, "Yeah, he left as soon as Dusty showed up."

"We better get home and put Mazey down for a nap," Dusty told his girlfriend.

"When can we get together?" she asked.

"How's this Friday?" he suggested.

"Sounds good," she responded.

"Great," he smiled and patted his brother on his back, "Come on, Smokes, let's go home."

She kissed him on the cheek before they could leave, "See you tomorrow and be sure to call me later."

He chuckled and nodded, "Will do."

They left and she looked at her boyfriend with loving eyes as they lost sight of them. They left themselves soon after losing sight of them.

The entire time that happened, SK8-R watched from behind a corner as they had their conversations and left for their respective homes. He narrowed his white eyes as they laughed and smiled like peas in a pod.

Kinecelerans and Citrakayah, laughing and smiling and having friendly conversations! Sickening; truly sickening.

But what was purely despicable was that NTL-E _kissed_ the Citrakayah on the cheek! That's not supposed to happen! Kinecelerans and Citrakayah hate each other! Plain and simple.

He tightly clenched his clawed hands to the point where he almost penetrated his own skin. His visor lowered and covered his face to hide his glare from all of the other students and their parents.

When they left, he sped off in the direction of the track. He ran on the textured field at speeds so fast that it could have very well set it on fire. A fire that would burn hotter than his white-hot fury.

* * *

Dusty and Smokey arrived home and immediately put their sister down for a nap. Their parents were at work, so they decided to work on homework together, which is something they haven't done for a while.

Dusty is always so busy with NTL-E, taking care of Mazey, and all of his homework that he hardly has time to hang out with his little brother. Which is a shame, he loves to be around his only brother, but it was almost time for finals and he would be graduating that year from high school and moving on to college.

"Hey, Dust, can you help me with this?" Smokey asked, pointing to a picture in his workbook. Normally, he gets all or most of his homework done in class, but he had issues staying focused in his class that day.

He looked at what he was referring to, he saw that it was about the colorful meteorological phenomena known as rainbows. It sounds so simple, but it's actually very complicated. Fortunately for Smokey, his brother was a top-notch science student.

"Okay, so rainbows are caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets. That light is sunlight coming from a section of the sky directly opposite from the sun," he explained. "Got that?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I think so." He started to write down what he had just told him. "Thanks."

That was his way of saying that he was done with needing his brother's help, which he respected and got to work on his own stuff. After all, no one ever said that physics was easy, even if it is only high school level.

Smokey finished the remainder of his homework rather quickly, just in time for their sister to wake up crying. Unfortunately for him, his punishment for the night before was to be in charge of her. More specifically, he was in charge of changing her diaper.

He prayed that she was fussy because she was just a little hungry or wanted a little attention. Although, knowing his brother and how he likes to play jokes on him, he might have given her a little more of her favorite food. Dusty may be more mature than most of his classmates, but he sure wasn't above playing a prank for old time's sake.

He ran upstairs and went straight to Mazey's bedroom. She was in her crib squirming restlessly and wailing strongly.

He bent over the railing of the crib that went roughly up to his chest and picked her up. "Hi, little munchkin!"

She continued to cry in his arms as he tried to calm her down by rocking her, she wouldn't settle down. He tried again by resting her over his shoulder and patting and rubbing her back, to no avail.

There was only one other option other than the last thing he wanted it to be. He mentally prayed and crossed his fingers that it was not the latter of the two.

He sped back downstairs with her still in his arms and went straight to the refrigerator. He opened it and took out a bottle, he placed inside the microwave, closing the refrigerator in the process.

Once the bottle was warmed up, he went over to the sofa so that it would be easier to feed her. He removed her from his shoulder and cradled her in one arm, while he held the warm bottle in his free hand.

He shook the bottle slightly and she lit up when she saw it. He presented it to her, but she wouldn't take the nipple.

'Oh no, please don't tell me this means you have a dirty diaper!' he mentally begged. "Dust, she's not taking the bottle," he told him.

He smirked playfully, "Oh, I guess that means she has a messy diaper. You better hope that it's not full of poop." He glared at him and he just laughed.

He set her down on the couch and placed the bottle aside. He unbuttoned her powder pink onesie and checked her diaper. His eyes widened and smirked mischievously.

He carefully removed it and put a new one on her. He kept turning away from her, closing his eyes shut, and making disgusted sounds. Dusty saw this dramatic performance and laughed.

'Such a drama queen,' he thought amusingly.

He folded the soft material over and picked it up with two fingers, trying to keep it as far away from himself as possible. "Ew! Ew! Ew!" He started to prance around in a stilted manner while sticking his tongue out.

His brother laughed at this at first but then got a little worried when he got a little too close for comfort. "Whoa, whoa, be careful with that."

He plugged his nose, "I'm sorry, it's just so gross!"

He mentally smirked and made a move that looked like he was about to rush over to the trash can, but then 'accidentally' slipped and the diaper went flying. It landed on the table right in front of Dusty, who nearly fell out of his chair as he stood up.

Smokey covered his mouth to hide his laughter, "Oops!"

Dusty poked it with his pencil and moved it around. It opened itself and he saw that it was clean! It wasn't dirty at all!

"Gotcha! She's clean!" he was laughing his butt off at how well his prank went.

His brother was not amused, not in the slightest. "Smokey!" he roared.

He quickly went over to the sofa and picked up Mazey and the bottle. "Sorry, bro, I still have to figure out what's wrong with her!" He ran upstairs faster than a snapping turtle could snap its beak at a predator or prey.

Dusty threw away the diaper and got back to his work. He shook his head and sighed, he loves his younger brother but he stresses him out.

In their little sister's room, Smokey paced the entire room back and forth as patted Mazey on the back, trying to get her to go back to sleep. She was still a little fussy, but had calmed down significantly in comparison to how she was earlier.

She still refused her bottle and started to hit him in the face and shoulder. He then started to gently bounce her in his arms, but it did little to help.

As a last effort, he decided that there was only one other option. He would have to sing to her.

He decided to sing a song from a movie he saw years earlier that he vaguely remembered. He couldn't remember the exact lyrics, so he sang what he could remember.

_"Run away, run away,_

_I'm running as fast as I can_

_Run away, run away_

_I'll never come back again_

_Run away, run away"_

It was only about half the bridge of the song, but it was all he could remember off the top of his head. He couldn't even remember the title of the song.

Miraculously, she finally calmed down and was asleep on his shoulder. He carefully and gently pulled her off of him and set her down in her crib. He carefully and quickly left her room, quietly closing the door behind him.

Afterwards, he went to his own bedroom and made sure to close his door. He didn't really feel like going downstairs in case his brother was still angry with him.

* * *

The next day, Smokey woke up just before his parents left for work and went downstairs to see them before they could. He saw his father throwing away an open envelope and his mother was just finishing up cooking breakfast for everyone.

"Good morning," he rubbed his eyes to clear his sleepy vision.

"Good morning, son," Ash replied.

He grabbed one of the breakfast burritos his wife just finished wrapping. He placed it inside his coat pocket and grabbed his briefcase, which held his laptop, and slung it over his shoulder.

He went over to his wife and kissed her on the cheek, "Bye, honey." He left the apartment afterwards and sped off to work.

Dusty came downstairs just after he left and playfully punched his brother, "Morning, Smokes!"

"Dusty!" he shrieked. "What was that for?!"

"That was for that little prank yesterday," he grinned twistedly. "That was a good one. So good that I'll have to really up my game."

He laughed and started to playfully hit him, "Good luck with that!"

Truthfully, he was happy that his brother wasn't mad at him or acting like he should already have a job as a data entry. He started laughing too and hit back in the same playful manner.

Their mother laughed and looked at the clock, "Oh, I've got to get to work." She took one of the burritos and grabbed her purse. "Boys, get ready for school, I'm going to work. Breakfast is on the stove."

"Okay, Mom," they replied in unison.

"Make sure to take Mazey to my sister's apartment, not her babysitter's," she told them.

"Okay, Mom," they repeated in unison. She checked to see if she had everything and left once she was sure she did.

"Rock, paper, scissors for who has to take Mazey to auntie's place?" Smokey asked.

Dusty shook his head, "No, I'll take her, I'm going in that direction anyway."

"Okay, cool," he sped upstairs to get ready for school.

He ran into the bathroom to take a shower. He wouldn't exactly call it a 'quick shower' because for a Citrakayah there's no such thing. He's covered in fur from head to toe and all of it has to be thoroughly washed. He was thankful that he inherited his father's short fur instead of his mother's long fur.

After rinsing out all of the soap and bubbles, he grabbed a towel and gave himself a quick dry. He then grabbed a hair brush to smooth out his fur. It's always best to brush it while it's still damp so that it doesn't take a lot of time to get out any tangles.

Once it was smoothed out he dried off again and went to his room. He threw on khaki shorts and a black shirt with a sad face, a broken heart, and a storm cloud all done in red. It was the CD cover for the album "No Pads, No Helmets... Just Balls" by Simple Plan, one of his favorite bands.

He then went back downstairs to eat breakfast. Dusty was already in the kitchen and eating a burrito, he was already dressed and ready to go.

"Hey, Smokes," he raised his breakfast at him, his mouth was full of it and slightly distorted his voice.

"Hey," he replied. He grabbed the last burrito and started eating it. He picked up the paper towel the burritos had been sitting on and threw it away.

He saw the envelope his father had held inside the trash can. Curiosity got the better of him and he picked it up to look at it. He looked at the paper inside and his heart stopped.

He dropped his half-eaten breakfast and sped upstairs in tears. "I'm not going to school!"

Dusty was wondering what could have made him so upset. He looked at the paper and saw the reason why.

V-Y-V-Y-V

**(A/N: I have to admit, this is probably my favorite chapter so far. I added in so much of my childhood into this that it just gives me a wave of nostalgia.**

**The prank Smokey pulled off on Dusty is taken from the prank scene in the movie "Ice Age". I remember that movie so vividly because of that one scene.**

**The song Smokey sings to Mazey is "Don't Wanna Think About You" by Simple Plan. Simple Plan just happens to be one of my favorite bands too, some of my favorite songs are off the album "No Pads, No Helmets… Just Balls".)**


End file.
